Music Notes: Cold Hands, The Kabeedies

This week I'm checking out the triple launch party at B2 of The Kabeedies new single Little Brains. The three-day festival with a different colour theme - Red, White and Blue - each night kicked off the Tuesday after Easter.

This week I'm checking out the triple launch party at B2 of The Kabeedies new single Little Brains. The three-day festival with a different colour theme - Red, White and Blue - each night kicked off the Tuesday after Easter.

I missed Red night that featured Tawney Owl, Vanilla Kick and Magpied but caught a host of bands on the following nights of White and Blue.

Most notable were LUNAIRE (White night) whose Myspace does them little justice. Still in the early stages of song writing their repertoire lacks a little direction with some great openings that sadly let you drift away rather than pull you in. They certainly have an eclectic appeal and the doubled-up double floor tom is an added dimension.

The set was somewhat short but no less effective, I remember Magoo starting out with similar material. I thought the best thing about the act though was the Japan quality about them, including the lead singer holding his voice in the same vein as David Sylvian.

CINECLUB followed Lunaire with lead singer Jamie getting into the colour theme wearing a full length 40's look summer dress, very fetching. The group's set is now quite sturdy and I've watched many tracks grow in strength; like I've said before their charm is down to their warped wheel approach of performing which may sound derogatory but is the whole essence of their appeal. They have a whole bunch of good ideas, sadly some of the best seem to have fallen by the wayside. Their Stroll On EP is now available online.

For me COLD HANDS (Blue night) are certainly the cream of new Norwich label Milkbar Records. It's still a bit loose with tracks that border the 60's garage vibe and then go completely the other way with a post punk angst.

I saw the band a year ago and it looked like they were on their last legs, the transformation in the band has been tenfold since then. It would be great if they could capture some of their live spirit onto tape, one thing I've found with bands with a bit of live bite is they tend to get ironed out in the studio.

THE KABEEDIES put on an exciting and yet amazingly mature performance considering their age, both of the nights I saw them. Their material is OTT pop and borders in some cases on an updated version of the bubblegum genre, although that would include the onstage madness of The Banana Splits. There hasn't been a local pop act with this much natural showmanship in sometime.

If you haven't been to see them yet because you're still hanging onto some banal elitism over being able to hear, dance or sing to a chorus, now's your time to join the real music lovers who know it's only about how it makes you feel.